GRANITEVILLE - Avondale Mills officials struggling to resurrect a chlorine-contaminated textile complex said Thursday that they face a mixture of damage that may keep some plants idled longer while allowing others to open with relative ease.
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The heaviest damage from chlorine corrosion occurred in the seven plants and facilities located closest to the train wreck, including a data center where all of the company's financial records were destroyed and a Woodhead Division plant that is so contaminated company officials haven't been able to fully inspect it, said Stephen Felker Jr., the company spokesman.
"We've got some areas that are heavily damaged and some that aren't," he said. "Things are better than the worst-case scenario we were told to expect."
Heavy damage also struck the Stevens Steam Plant, which powers much of the complex closest to the wreck site.
As a result, company officials will bring in temporary boilers from Chattanooga, Tenn., Mr. Felker said.
The company will focus its restart efforts on two fronts, he said. One week after the wreck and resulting chlorine leak that killed nine people, including six Avondale Mills employees, company officials continued partial startup operations in three plants and a warehouse outside the mile radius of a mandatory evacuation zone.
Inside the evacuation zone, the company will try to reopen the Gregg Division plant, where the chlorine spared the more sophisticated machinery, said company president, Stephen Felker Sr., who has vowed the company will reopen its Graniteville operations, which employ about 1,700 people.
"I dodged a bullet," he said.
Employees should refrain from reporting to work unless called in by supervisors, Mr. Felker said.
Reach Jim Nesbitt at (803) 648-1395, ext. 111, or jim.nesbitt@augustachronicle.com.
Special Section: Graniteville Train Wreck
On January 6, 2005, a Norfolk Southern Corp. freight train carrying chemicals hit a parked train near an Avondale Mills plant in Graniteville, South Carolina. The impact caused poisonous chlorine gas to leak from three of the moving train's cars. Nine people were killed and more than 5,000 people were evacuated from the site.
For complete coverage of the Graniteville train wreck, visit our special section.
